STEVE ALBINI

Saying that Prince is bad music “made uglier by his behavior” feels like kind of a “…and such small portions!” thing… like if he really is so disturbed by reports of Prince’s behavior, he almost seems to minimize that aspect of his objection by tagging it on that way.

No one is obligated to like Prince’s music, of course, but it just feels like such a defiantly contrary take (when coming from a writer, performer, and producer of popular music) as to perhaps benefit from further elaboration…

(I guess I mean “contrarian” take)

Really enjoying ILXors doing "physician heal thyself" routines to a guy bemoaning a serial groomer and abuser because he used the no-no word on a Tellus cassette in 1985

what word would that be whiney

do you want to share or are you just bluffing

It is The Worst Word but ... that ... still doesn't make it equivalent to a decades-long pattern of physical and sexual abuse against women unless you're trying to win ad hom points on a message board

I have read albini pre-face turn bragging about his sexual assaults so fuck off

steve has to throw out some controps occasionally like many other people on the internet because I don’t think he enjoys being liked excessively as a person

xpost Well fair enough then

I think the weirdness around albini being distinct from the weirdness around other Problematic Acts People Love is basically just about who it is that identifies with him & how with that identification his/their identity is seen as neutral and sympathetic whereas other identities are not

His aesthetic preferences have always been bullshit but I’m also not expecting him to start gushing about Kylie minogue ilm style, I’m ok that he remains consistent in that regard but people should take it much much less seriously / authoritatively

Did 20 songs, tried not to include any I worked on but made an exception for Nina. pic.twitter.com/kHPQ0BgZ0W

— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) September 4, 2023

Okay, now that is the kind of thing I can get behind.

500 Miles?????!!! LOL!

Appliances SFB was such a great band

What's the 20 songs in response to? Also, did he type it up on an analog typewriter?

It's in response to this prompt that has been making rounds on Twitter for the past few days:

Make a 20-track comp of your all-time fav tracks, each artist can only feature once. Not the 'best' songs, the ones that bring instant joy the second you hear the first note, the ones that give other people the best insight into what stirs your soul. Share when ready. #20tracks

— Nick Worrall 🎸 (@heathensquirrel) August 20, 2023

xp yeah it's an original fender bassman typewriter

Weird that he’s still on Twitter, I assumed he left

I smell Poll Week 2!

re: 500 miles & Buddy Holly, Albini somewhat abashedly repped for them before (probably in the context of a "what songs are you ashamed you like" type thread), but I didn't realize he was baring his soul there.

Ashamed of Buddy Holly? What a prat.

Seconded

lol at original fender bassman

It's weird doing a list. Like there's no Specials on there but I fucking love the Specials. How did I make a list of 20 songs and not put "Monkey Man" on there? There's no instrumental music, no Sandy Nelson, no Shadowy Men, no Link Wray, all of which bring a smile to my face.

— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) September 4, 2023

Weird that he’s still on Twitter, I assumed he left

I think he's also on Bluesky, don't know if there's a difference between what he posts in either place, or his interactions.

Yeah, that’s where I encountered him. He seems pretty active there

(Josh, what’s yr Bluesky handle?)

500 Miles?????!!! LOL!

right?! maybe in the United States people perceive it differently, but yes, LOL!!

A bit like the musical equivalent of Braveheart - though not quite that awful.

That's incredible. What a fucking nerd

500 fucking miles. What a cunt lol

could kind of imagine 500 Miles produced in the same quiet/loud way as The Pixies' Gigantic

it's a good song

I'm gonny be disagreeing with you on that one, sorry, yin.

it’s a great song

brimstead gets it

two names i never expected to add to my list of history's greatest monsters but there you go

It's not that it's bad (it is bad) but that after all of his huffing and puffing on the 'hard' stuff for decades...it's one hell of a choice.

Maybe Steve had a hot cold night out in Ayr one time and the robust vocalisations of the Reid twins forevermore remind him of that special experience? What I really want to know is whether he liked the song in his Big Black days.

Auchtermuchty, to be precise.

Typical of the Proclaimers to come from a place with the most Scottish name ever.

... and the hometown of Jimmy Shand to boot! You couldn't make it up.

There are a lot of songs that are good songs that I don't want to hear and don't begrudge anyone else digging.

Thought the proper title was “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”

Maybe he was thinking of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” (and only likes half of it)

Once in the late 80s/early 90s a friend and I were walking by The Bottom Line and there was a huge line around the block to get in. We asked who was playing and they told us in what I assumed at the time were Irish accents but of course might have been Scottish “The Proclaimers!” I’m not sure if we even knew who that was at the time. My friend said to me “James Redd, from the size of that line I was sure it was going to be The Rolling Stones playing a secret show or something like that.”

I would queue 500 blocks

Alongside 500 Jocks.

Think the proclaimers are basically fine, but appreciate that if I were Scottish I would most likely find them unbearable

no true scotsman (could possibly dislike them)

is how i break it down to an extent